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West Australian
a day ago
- Business
- West Australian
Anthony Albanese says he's open to negotiating with Coalition on $3m super tax
Anthony Albanese has indicated that he will work with the Coalition to pass Labor's proposed tax to hit super balances over $3m with a 30 per cent tax. Speaking from Perth on Tuesday, the Prime Minister conceded that Labor doesn't have 'majority in the Senate' and said 'we obviously work with different parties'. 'If the signal from the Coalition is across the board – I'm not talking specifically here – that they will be more constructive and not just be part of a no-alition with the Greens Party, then that would be welcome,' he said. 'I think people in the last term of parliament saw a Coalition that was just committed to blocking everything – housing investment, support for further investment in education,' he continued, adding that he hoped the Coalition will support Labor's push to cut all HELP debts by 20 per cent. While Labor has continued to face questions over its plans to double earning tax on superannuation balances over $3m, the Greens have given the policy in-principle support. This would negate the need for Labor to seek bipartisan support in the Senate. However the minor party has argued for the threshold to be lowered to $2m, with indexation requirements that would result in the threshold increasing over time. Although the Coalition has indicated that it is open for negotiations, this is contingent on the inclusion of indexation provisions, and excluding the tax on unrealised gains, like property. On Monday, Coalition finance spokesman James Paterson accused Jim Chalmers of being 'in hiding' due to the controversy over the super tax. Senator Paterson said the Coalition was 'very proud to oppose it because we think it is bad tax law'. 'He's barely been seen or heard from since the election. He's letting other ministers like Amanda Rishworth front the Sunday shows to try to explain his complicated, confused, and contradictory policy,' he said. Senator Paterson has also This is due to carveouts for people on defined benefit pensions, who won't have to pay the tax until after they retire, while people with normal super funds and self-managed funds will be liable during their working years. This includes long-serving politicians who entered parliament before 2004, and include Mr Albanese, Foreign Minister Penny Wong and Sussan Ley. 'I think he (the Treasurer) should front up today and explain the rationale for this dodgy exemption that he's given his boss and whether or not Anthony Albanese participated in the decision to grant that exemption.'
Perth Now
a day ago
- Business
- Perth Now
Albo's impossible choice on super tax
Anthony Albanese has indicated that he will work with the Coalition to pass Labor's proposed tax to hit super balances over $3m with a 30 per cent tax. Speaking from Perth on Tuesday, the Prime Minister conceded that Labor doesn't have 'majority in the Senate' and said 'we obviously work with different parties'. 'If the signal from the Coalition is across the board – I'm not talking specifically here – that they will be more constructive and not just be part of a no-alition with the Greens Party, then that would be welcome,' he said. 'I think people in the last term of parliament saw a Coalition that was just committed to blocking everything – housing investment, support for further investment in education,' he continued, adding that he hoped the Coalition will support Labor's push to cut all HELP debts by 20 per cent. Anthony Albanese said he would work with 'different parties' in order to pass Labor's proposed super tax. NewsWire/Philip Gostelow Credit: Supplied While Labor has continued to face questions over its plans to double earning tax on superannuation balances over $3m, the Greens have given the policy in-principle support. This would negate the need for Labor to seek bipartisan support in the Senate. However the minor party has argued for the threshold to be lowered to $2m, with indexation requirements that would result in the threshold increasing over time. Although the Coalition has indicated that it is open for negotiations, this is contingent on the inclusion of indexation provisions, and excluding the tax on unrealised gains, like property. James Paterson said the Treasurer was in hiding. Jason Edwards / NewsWire Credit: News Corp Australia On Monday, Coalition finance spokesman James Paterson accused Jim Chalmers of being 'in hiding' due to the controversy over the super tax. Senator Paterson said the Coalition was 'very proud to oppose it because we think it is bad tax law'. 'He's barely been seen or heard from since the election. He's letting other ministers like Amanda Rishworth front the Sunday shows to try to explain his complicated, confused, and contradictory policy,' he said. Senator Paterson has also This is due to carveouts for people on defined benefit pensions, who won't have to pay the tax until after they retire, while people with normal super funds and self-managed funds will be liable during their working years. This includes long-serving politicians who entered parliament before 2004, and include Mr Albanese, Foreign Minister Penny Wong and Sussan Ley. 'I think he (the Treasurer) should front up today and explain the rationale for this dodgy exemption that he's given his boss and whether or not Anthony Albanese participated in the decision to grant that exemption.'
Perth Now
2 days ago
- Business
- Perth Now
‘Too lazy': Labor blasted over ‘rigged' system
Aussies keen to see their student loan debts cut by 20 per cent as promised by Labor in the federal election may not be so happy when they check their accounts. Since Sunday, students with HELP or HECS loans would have seen their debts increase by 3.2 per cent as indexation kicked in. Indexation serves to adjust student loans according to inflation – but the timing at which they are applied has been heavily criticised for years. 'HELP debts aren't actually very helpful,' independent Tasmanian senator Tammy Tyrell said. 'Today, students are watching their debts go up, with the money they've paid through the year nowhere in sight. Senator Tammy Tyrrell has called for the government to address HECS/HELP indexation. NewsWire / Martin Ollman Credit: News Corp Australia 'Banks reduce your loan before charging interest. Credit unions do too. Just not the government who pretend someone's repayments don't exist. It's costing students thousands of dollars all because Labor is too lazy to fix its accounting. 'Labor's HELP debt changes are one-off sugar hits. If they're genuine about making a difference for students, they could fix this rigged system when parliament returns. Just count someone's payments before interest is charged. 'It doesn't make sense to me that someone's debt is indexed before taking into account the thousands of dollars they've paid throughout the year,' she said. It does not take into account debt that has been paid off throughout the year, Senator Tyrrell said. NCA NewsWire /Brendan Beckett Credit: News Corp Australia 'Imagine if banks did that with your home loan – took your money, charged you interest but the repayments don't come off the outstanding balance. I reckon people would be pretty upset about that, so why do we expect students to put up with it? 'A student's HECS-HELP debt should be indexed after the yearly repayments are taken off. 'No matter what the indexation rate is, it's not a fair system when you're indexing badly. We need to change the timing, not the rate.' Education Minister Jason Clare said Labor's policy to reduce HECS debts by 20 per cent would be backdated to June 1 before indexation was applied. Education Minister Jason Clare says legislation will be backdated so debt is actually cut by the promised 20 per cent. NewsWire / Martin Ollman Credit: News Corp Australia 'It will be the first Bill that we introduce into the parliament when parliament sits for the first time in the last week of July,' Mr Clare told ABC radio. 'What that legislation will do is cut everyone's debt by 20 per cent and backdate that cut. And that's important because every 1st of June in every year HECS debts or student debts get indexed. 'That 20 per cent cut will come into effect before that indexation effectively happens to make sure that we honour the promise we made and we cut everyone's debt by 20 per cent. The Australian Universities Accord Final Report 2024 determined that the indexation should be applied later in the year after compulsory repayments made during the previous financial year were deducted from a student's balance.
News.com.au
2 days ago
- Business
- News.com.au
Labor under fire for HECS/HELP indexation timing
Aussies keen to see their student loan debts cut by 20 per cent as promised by Labor in the federal election may not be so happy when they check their accounts. Since Sunday, students with HELP or HECS loans would have seen their debts increase by 3.2 per cent as indexation kicked in. Indexation serves to adjust student loans according to inflation – but the timing at which they are applied has been heavily criticised for years. 'HELP debts aren't actually very helpful,' independent Tasmanian senator Tammy Tyrell said. 'Today, students are watching their debts go up, with the money they've paid through the year nowhere in sight. 'Banks reduce your loan before charging interest. Credit unions do too. Just not the government who pretend someone's repayments don't exist. It's costing students thousands of dollars all because Labor is too lazy to fix its accounting. 'Labor's HELP debt changes are one-off sugar hits. If they're genuine about making a difference for students, they could fix this rigged system when parliament returns. Just count someone's payments before interest is charged. 'It doesn't make sense to me that someone's debt is indexed before taking into account the thousands of dollars they've paid throughout the year,' she said. 'Imagine if banks did that with your home loan – took your money, charged you interest but the repayments don't come off the outstanding balance. I reckon people would be pretty upset about that, so why do we expect students to put up with it? 'A student's HECS-HELP debt should be indexed after the yearly repayments are taken off. 'No matter what the indexation rate is, it's not a fair system when you're indexing badly. We need to change the timing, not the rate.' Education Minister Jason Clare said Labor's policy to reduce HECS debts by 20 per cent would be backdated to June 1 before indexation was applied. 'It will be the first Bill that we introduce into the parliament when parliament sits for the first time in the last week of July,' Mr Clare told ABC radio. 'What that legislation will do is cut everyone's debt by 20 per cent and backdate that cut. And that's important because every 1st of June in every year HECS debts or student debts get indexed. 'That 20 per cent cut will come into effect before that indexation effectively happens to make sure that we honour the promise we made and we cut everyone's debt by 20 per cent. The Australian Universities Accord Final Report 2024 determined that the indexation should be applied later in the year after compulsory repayments made during the previous financial year were deducted from a student's balance.
West Australian
2 days ago
- Business
- West Australian
Labor under fire for HECS/HELP indexation timing
Aussies keen to see their student loan debts cut by 20 per cent as promised by Labor in the federal election may not be so happy when they check their accounts. Since Sunday, students with HELP or HECS loans would have seen their debts increase by 3.2 per cent as indexation kicked in. Indexation serves to adjust student loans according to inflation – but the timing at which they are applied has been heavily criticised for years. 'HELP debts aren't actually very helpful,' independent Tasmanian senator Tammy Tyrell said. 'Today, students are watching their debts go up, with the money they've paid through the year nowhere in sight. 'Banks reduce your loan before charging interest. Credit unions do too. Just not the government who pretend someone's repayments don't exist. It's costing students thousands of dollars all because Labor is too lazy to fix its accounting. 'Labor's HELP debt changes are one-off sugar hits. If they're genuine about making a difference for students, they could fix this rigged system when parliament returns. Just count someone's payments before interest is charged. 'It doesn't make sense to me that someone's debt is indexed before taking into account the thousands of dollars they've paid throughout the year,' she said. 'Imagine if banks did that with your home loan – took your money, charged you interest but the repayments don't come off the outstanding balance. I reckon people would be pretty upset about that, so why do we expect students to put up with it? 'A student's HECS-HELP debt should be indexed after the yearly repayments are taken off. 'No matter what the indexation rate is, it's not a fair system when you're indexing badly. We need to change the timing, not the rate.' Education Minister Jason Clare said Labor's policy to reduce HECS debts by 20 per cent would be backdated to June 1 before indexation was applied. 'It will be the first Bill that we introduce into the parliament when parliament sits for the first time in the last week of July,' Mr Clare told ABC radio. 'What that legislation will do is cut everyone's debt by 20 per cent and backdate that cut. And that's important because every 1st of June in every year HECS debts or student debts get indexed. 'That 20 per cent cut will come into effect before that indexation effectively happens to make sure that we honour the promise we made and we cut everyone's debt by 20 per cent. The Australian Universities Accord Final Report 2024 determined that the indexation should be applied later in the year after compulsory repayments made during the previous financial year were deducted from a student's balance.
